


En Garde

by jackelgull



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Fluff, Gen, but as of now they're not a major part of this story, gabriel and tomoe will be mentioned, honestly the most self indulgent thing i've ever written, mostly friendship but some romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24730390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackelgull/pseuds/jackelgull
Summary: Two socially isolated dorks become friends.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. I just wanted some Adrien and Kagami friendship fluff. This first chapter will follow the beats of Riposte pretty closely, but the rest of the chapters is me filling in the gaps between Riposte and Frozer, where it's clear Kagami has an interest in Adrien, and that things have been developing. This is gonna focus on their friendship, but since I'll be following canon some romance will be in there too. I have like the first few chapters of this written out, so if you like it, rest assured, it will be updated fast. And if you don't, well, I'm doing this for self indulgence anyways lol. Sorry about that

Kagami had plans when she came to France. She wanted to learn all she could from the birthplace of fencing, make her mother proud and compete with peers at and above her skill level. And in some corner of her mind she entertained a fantasy about making friends along the way with a worthy rival who crossed blades with her. 

None of those plans included one Adrien Agreste. He just sort of came crashing into her life, like a canonball.

It begins like this - Kagami joins Armand D’Argerncourt’s fencing school because it is supposedly the best in France, and she only belongs among the best. She challenges the blond boy for the same reason. An empress only schemes against those who are a challenge to her power, and a Tsurugi only crosses blades with those who are a challenge to their skills. 

At first she is disappointed. He shows some skill, but he is not her equal. She presses her attack, and hisses disappointedly, “Is that the best you can do?” as she pins him to the railing. And then he pushes her off, and everything is different. For the first time she is being pressed back. Adrien wields his blade like he is putting everything on the line. Kagami has faced more skilled opponents before, but for the first time in her life, they are less two fencers in a match as much as they are two warriors locked in a ferocious duel.

They burst into the library in a flurry of motion, carts careening wildly out the door. At her limit, Kagami yells, “Let’s finish this off!”

She lunges at him watching as inch by inch her foil penetrates the distance between them. And then, they are both touching each other with their foils. She whirls to the blue haired girl who had been watching the match and shouted, “Who got the first hit? Who?!”

The blue haired girl shrinks back against Kagami’s tone but answers clearly, if hesitantly, “It was … Adrien”

Of course she would say that. Because Kagami was an outsider and this was the blonde boy’s classmate she would take his side over Kagami . She feels acutely alone, and a little homesick. Being back in Japan wasn’t perfect, but she was atleast judged on her merits, and not for being an outsider.

She shakes the boy’s hand and begins walking to her car in defeat. The best match she had in years, the possibility of training alongside a worthy rival, maybe even a real friend, ruined. She flings her saber to the ground and goes to face her mother’s inevitable disappointment. 

The boy comes to meet her outside. “Let’s do a decisive match,'' he offers. 

She pushes her saber away, “What's the point? You won. There's no such thing as a second chance in my family. Goodbye.”

She thinks of the way her mother turned her back on her father, the way she cut him out of her life, even cropping him out of the wedding photos, the way Kagami has not even been allowed to hear from him in years. It is an old wound and a deep one. 

She hurries to get in the car, and calls her mother but she’s not there, which honestly is a relief. She doesn’t know if she can take her mother’s disappointment and wrath right now.

“Mother, you thought I was good enough, but... I lost. I won't be joining the D'Argencourt Academy.”

And then everything goes blank. The next thing she knows, Ladybug, the fricking superhero of Paris is patting her head and telling her, “Everything’s ok”

Kagami can’t help the look on her awe on her face. She thinks she might have even fallen a little bit in love at that moment.

“You go on” Ladybug says to her kindly, “I have to go find someone.”

“Thank you” Kagami says stiffly, even though it feels like such an inadequate sentiment.

She calls her ride outside of the Louvre, only to run into the blonde boy.

“Excuse me” he says.

“Listen I” she jumps, and then sighs. 

There’s an awkward pause because if thanking Ladybug was awkward, imagine speaking to the person who was the primary target of your fury. Even if she spent a lifetime saying sorry, it wasn’t enough.

“I’m sorry” she chokes out, and to her surprise, at the same time, the blond boy is apologizing to her.

“Perhaps you’ll agree to take this back” he says offering her saber back. She reaches for it longingly. Fencing has been her life for so long, and this saber was a big part of that. But she hesitates, because she’s lost any right to touch it, and pulls her hand away. 

“No, I lost. You keep it,” she says, clutching her hands to her chest.

“I personally think the point was yours,” Adrien argues

“That's not what your friend saw,” there’s a faint hint of bitterness creeping into her voice at the thought she might’ve lost to favoritism, but she disciplines herself. Her mother would say it is not befitting for a Tsurugi to blame others for their own inadequacies. If Kagami had been better, there wouldn’t be any doubt. 

Adrien must’ve sensed her bitterness because he offers,“Marinette can get flustered easily. She's kind and means well. She'd never cheat. Today was her first-ever experience with fencing.”

It’s not the words themselves that release the icy grip of disappointment on her chest, but the way his face practically lights up when he talks about her. Kagami can’t help but think he’s beautiful, and she wants him to defend her like that. She schools herself to ignore that thought. She didn’t come here to look at pretty boys.

Despite herself, she smiles, “You like her a lot, huh?”

“Marinette? Yeah, of course! She's a very good friend, and you'll really like her too, once you get to know her,” he says excitedly, and Kagami lets herself imagine it, staying at this academy, becoming friends with this boy, and maybe even his circle of friends. She likes that thought a lot, and she resolves to make it happen.

Adrien offers her saber back to her and this time she takes it.

“I’ll be happy to get to know your friend Marinette!” she says, and bows to him. He bows back and they make eye contact for a second before Adrien holds out his hand.

“My name’s Adrien. What’s yours?”

“Kagami” she says as she shakes his hand. Before she gets into her car and leaves she looks back at Adrien and says, “Get ready for that decisive match!”

“I can’t wait, Kagami”

Little does she know that will be the beginning of everything.


	2. Business Negotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I was planning on releasing this earlier, but I got stuck on writing the fifth chapter. I still haven't written it, but might as well put chapter 2 out there and hope i figure things out in the meantime. 
> 
> I also wrote this chapter because I was interested in how Kagami's mom reacted to her loss in Riposte. Tomoe Tsurugi is probably alot softer here then she would be in the show, but I didn't want to make her totally cold.

The fallout of losing to Adrien is hardly easy. Her mother never yells at her but her disappointment is made clear anyways. Kagami goes to bed feeling great shame.

The next day, her mother calls Gabriel Agreste.

“Hello”, she says, “this is Tomoe Tsurugi”  
“Ah madam Tsurugi, what can I do for you?”  
“I have a request. For the meeting we are going to have to hammer out the details of the business we were discussing earlier, could you bring your son to the meeting?” Tomoe Tsurugi phrases this like a request, but her tone suggests there is no possibility it can be rejected. To Tomoe Tsurugi, others fall over themselves to make her wishes occur, for much the same reason that rain happens, or that balls fall of cliffs - because it’s just the way the universe works.   
“I will have to make arrangements to his schedule to make it happen. Is there any particular reason for this?” he asks.  
“My daughter crossed blades with your son at D’Argencourt academy, and has nothing but praise for his skill. I wish to assess him for myself.”  
“Ah yes, I heard about the results of the fencing match.”  
He pauses for a moment before saying, “Why don’t you bring your daughter to the meeting as well? We’ll be working very closely together anyways, and it’s a good opportunity for us to meet.”  
“Very well then”  
Her mother turns to Kagami and says, “I will be meeting Gabriel Agreste in a week to finalize a business arrangement. You will be coming with me.”  
She does not bother framing it as a request.  
“Agreste? Aren’t they a fashion company? What do they have to do with fencing?” Kagami asks feeling confused.  
“He contacted me as soon as he heard we were coming to France. He is an avid fan and offered us a sponsorship if we agreed to wear an Agreste designed uniform” her mother explained.

Kagami could feel the tension underneath those words. It must really chafe a proud woman like her mother to be reliant on someone else for money but it couldn’t be helped. The Tsurugi’s have an ancient name but not the finances to match. Kagami heard vague rumors of perhaps her father being careless with money, but she couldn’t be sure of what had caused the Tsurugi’s decline in fortunes. 

Her mother never shows it, but Adrien Agreste impresses her. He does not gawk at her blindness upon meeting her, nor does he insult her pride by asking her if she needs help. Adrien’s kindness is of a thoughtful quiet nature, and he pulls out chairs, and removes obstacles from Tomoe Tsurugi’s path without comment. Kagami wonders if Adrien is an especially tactful person, or if this is just how he is. 

Madam Tsurugi and Gabriel Agreste discuss acceptable levels of branding (no logos on the uniform, everything else is fair game) televised advertising opportunities (Madam Tsurugi was not convinced but agreed to consider appearances for Kagami on a case by case basis) and social media marketing (a difficult sell but Gabriel Agreste was charming enough to get the madam to agree) for the next half an hour. After the discussion is over, Madam Tsurugi gets up and thanks Gabriel for his hospitality and says, “Before we leave, I would like to challenge Adrien to a fencing match. I hear he beat my Kagami and I would like to test his skill for myself.”  
Gabriel Agreste nearly clapped his hands with glee at this. While the man was colder than an iceberg to his son often, nothing made him happier than the chance to show off his son, the product of the finest facilities and strictest instruction. He almost seemed to view Adrien as a possession or a shiny bauble proving Gabriel’s own superiority. It rubbed Kagami the wrong way.   
“Of course” was his reply, “Adrien would you do the honors?”  
“I would be honored to accept your challenge” Adrien said without any false modesty or bragging which Madam Tsurugi appreciated.  
And with that she launched herself at him. Fighting Kagami’s mother was a much different experience to fighting Kagami herself. The madam was not as agile as her daughter but she made up for that by reading him like a book, reacting just as he committed to a strike. However Adrien managed to land one blow on her. He surprised her by throwing his saber at her and then using his enhanced speed to catch it and change the trajectory of the blow at the last second. That was the last time in the match Adrien managed to score a point. After the bout Tomoe Tsurugi and Adrien bowed to each other.  
“It is a shame you were born an Agreste” she commented, “had you been a Tsurugi I could have made you into a great fencer”  
“You are too kind madam” Adrien replies.  
After that Kagami and her mother go home. On the ride home Tomoe turns to Kagami and says “I approve of Adrien Agreste”  
“What?” Kagami says startled.  
“It is a shame that your weakness cost you a chance at entering D’Argerncourt’s, but it is understandable that you would lose to Adrien Agreste. We will simply have to make other arrangements. Just do not fail me again Kagami.”  
“Thank you mother, it will not.”  
“And Kagami, I am happy you have found a worthy rival. Such a thing is rare but it really helps accelerate one’s development” Tomoe Tsurugi says warmly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kagami and Adrien make plans

They met again a week later after Kagami had been accepted into D’Argencourt’s fencing academy. While D’Argencourt had set the condition that Kagami had to win, that was more an expression of his disapproval of her attitude than a serious condition, and after he witnessed her performance and recognized her face, he called Tomoe, practically begging for Kagami to join. And now here she was.  
“Time to finish our decisive match” she says.  
“You’re on!” he shouts.   
This time is just as furious as the last, but because of what happened last time, they’re banned from going up the stairs so D’Argencourt can better referee them, and without the ability to fully exploit his natural agility, Adrien finds it difficult to prevail.   
“Match goes to Kagami” signals the end of their bout, and Kagami is exhausted. Really, she and Adrien are far too evenly matched a pair. It’s kind of ridiculous. She’s almost envious. Here she is, having practiced her whole life, only to lose out to a model and son of a fashion designer. But Kagami is not by nature a jealous person, and she knows Adrien can’t have gotten as good as he did without working hard.  
They sit on a bench together waiting for their respective rides when Adrien turns to her and grins cheekily, “So how did the ‘no second chances in my family’ thing turn out? Did your mother kick you out of the house oh miss `i must give up the way of the sword’?   
Kagami blushes at that because he does have a point - she was terribly dramatic over losing.  
“Shut up, I thought I wasn’t getting into the fencing academy, I was being the right amount of dramatic!”  
Adrien laughs and says, “Maybe you’ll hang around next time and hear the whole story before stomping off.”  
There’s a momentary lull in their conversation, before Adrien asks, “Did your mom enjoy the Agreste experience?”  
“She’s very impressed with the discipline and organization in your father’s company. And while she didn’t exactly like it, I think she respected your father for being headstrong and stubborn.”  
“I can see that, they’re both very”, here Adrien pauses, looking for the right word before continuing,”intense.”  
“Yes, they very easily could be good friends or bitter enemies. We are fortunate they like each other.”  
“Are we?” Adrien jokes, “I have a feeling that now they’ve been introduced to one another they’ll team up for world domination like some kind of supervillain duo”  
Kagami grins, because her mother and Gabriel are both terrifying and intense enough to do just that. Just then, she hears a honk to see that Adrien’s ride has just arrived.   
“I have to go now”, says Adrien, “I’ll see you around.”  
As he walks away, Kagami screws her courage to a sticking place and chases after him.  
“Wait!” she calls out, and when Adrien turns around to look at her, she says, “Since our parents will be close partners, maybe we should exchange numbers. Just in case, you know?”  
She tries to play it off nonchalantly, but inside she is buzzing with excitement. Adrien Agreste is going to be her first friend. She’s finally going to have a friend!  
Adrien smiles at her and takes out his phone. As he hands it to her, he asks, “So we’re friends then?”  
At the word friends, Kagami feels something warm and light bloom in her chest.   
“Yeah”, she says, “Friends”  
She puts her number in his phone.

Later that day she stares at her phone while in bed, when all of a sudden, it starts ringing. Startled, she checks the caller id, suspecting her mother is maybe calling her down for a chore she forgot. Instead the caller id reads - Adrien.  
She picks up the phone, “Hello, is this Adrien Agreste?”  
“No, this is Count Dracula and I vant to suck your blood” Adrien says dramatically in a fake accent.  
Kagami rolls her eyes, “Really?”  
“You're just jealous of my sweet accent, admit it” he shoots back.  
“No, I’m embarrassed because that was the cringiest thing I’ve ever heard. White weebs who learn Japanese from anime are somehow less cringey than you right now” Kagami laughs.  
“Sure, you can keep believing that, if it’ll make you feel better” he says.  
There’s a short pause in the conversation before Kagami clears her throat to ask, “So, is there a particular reason you’ve called?”  
“What, can’t I just want to call a friend?” Adrien says innocently. At the word friend, Kagami feels heat creeping into her cheeks and a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.  
“While that can be the reason it doesn’t mean it is the reason you’ve called. Stop dodging the question, Adrien.”  
Adrien mumbles something into the phone in response.  
“What did you say?”  
“I wanted to offer to show you around the city because you’re new. Paris has so much awesome stuff in it”, Adrien says more clearly.  
“I’d love to go!” Kagami shouts excitedly, before the reality of the situation brought her back down to earth, “but I need to talk to my mother. She’s pretty strict about my schedule”.  
“That’s fine, I understand. My dad’s pretty strict about my schedule too. I’m surprised he even allowed me this,” Adrien says.  
“Give me a minute then. But if I’m gonna ask my mother, I need some details about when we’ll meet and for how long” Kagami says,  
“I’m cleared for Saturday from 10 am to 2 PM”  
“Give me a minute and then I’ll let you know,” Kagami says, getting off the phone and heading to where her mother was watching a soap opera.   
“What is it, Kagami?’ her mother asks.  
“Adrien called me to offer me a tour of Paris on Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM. I wished to ask for your permission, mother.”  
Tomoe Tsurugi smiles, “I don’t see why not. Your training has been coming along well, and making relationships with people of the right status and character is just as important for fencing professionally as your skill. Tell him I approve.”  
Kagami finalizes plans with Adrien and goes to bed smiling.


End file.
